John Swift (right) with his arm round Portsmouth team-mate Yang Min-hyeok after scoring his goal at LeicesterGetty Images

Portsmouth-born John Swift joined his hometown club this summer from West Brom

Adam Lanigan
BBC Sport England

Leicester City's stuttering form in the Championship continued as they were held at home by Portsmouth.

Things looked good when on-loan midfielder Aaron Ramsey put them ahead with his first Foxes goal in a positive first-half showing.

But they were pegged back by John Swift's first goal for Pompey just before the hour as the visitors were much improved after the break.

Leicester, although unbeaten in eight games, have now drawn five of their last six and this result dropped them one place from third at the start of the day to fourth.

They have only lost one of their 10 games since relegation from the Premier League, but have not hit their straps in the way Enzo Maresca's side did two years ago on their way to promotion - with 10 points fewer than at this stage in 2023.

The visitors have now claimed five points from their last three games as they sit 14th and it could have been more but for a fine save from Jakub Stolarczyk to deny substitute Florian Bianchini.

Aaron Ramsey raises two arms in the air to celebrate his goal for LeicesterGetty Images

Aaron Ramsey scored on his second league start for Leicester

Goals have been a real problem for the Foxes as they struggle to fill the void left by Jamie Vardy's departure.

Abdul Fatawu is their top scorer with three, while Patson Daka is yet to get off the mark and Jordan Ayew has one. So Marti Cifuentes decided to hand a first start to on-loan Argentine forward Julian Carranza.

But it was midfielder Ramsey, brought back into the team for just his second start since signing from Burnley, who provided the goal power as he athletically volleyed in from six yards after fine wing play from Fatawu.

The 22-year-old is still working his way back from a serious knee injury sustained in February 2024 and showed what he was capable of with a strong run and shot from midfield that was well saved by Joe Bursik, who then made another good stop to keep out Fatawu's curler as the home side tried to press home their advantage.

Pompey were second best in the first period, although they had been unlucky not to equalise when Yang Min-hyeok struck the crossbar with a terrific volley in what was their only attempt.

But the South Korea teenager, on loan from Tottenham, played a pivotal role as they did draw level, leading the counter-attack before teeing up Swift, who drilled home.

Having joined in the summer from West Bromwich Albion, it was a sweet moment for the 30-year-old as he grabbed his first goal for his hometown club.

The visitors showed more assurance in the second period and it is now only one defeat in five away games this term for John Mousinho's side as they demonstrate growing maturity in their second season back in the second tier.

But they nearly returned south with nothing as deep into seven minutes of stoppage time, left-back Luke Thomas steered an effort across the face of goal as the Foxes lack of that goal poacher reared its head with nobody in the six-yard box to convert.

John Mousinho: 'It feels like we could have had all three'

Leicester City head coach Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:

"We had a very good first half with a lot of good moments, a lot of good sequences of play.

"We were very dominant, we had something like 12 shots and conceded only one.

"We spoke at half-time about the need of scoring one or two more goals because it doesn't matter how dominant you are in the Championship, the games can shift quick.

"The second half was not good. We tried to play too much centrally, we had some turnovers, we conceded some counter attacks and the goal was exactly like this.

"We had this attitude that I like to chase until the end and we had these couple of good chances but we need to accept that the second half was not at the level we expected."

Portsmouth manager John Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent:

"It feels like we could have had all three points, I thought we had the better chances to win it.

"You come to the King Power and take the point. I'm really happy with the performance, I think we need to be more ruthless going forward.

"We could have had more confidence and belief in ourselves.

"My message at half-time was let's not get done by those silly mistakes and we did that. In the second half we were on the front foot and were confident.

"John Swift has been one of those who has grown into the season, we want to play him higher up as he can score goals.

"He came into the game more in the second half, I thought it was a really good goal."

Player of the match

Yang Min-Hyeok
8.11
30 A. Ramsey
6.64
7 A. Fatawu
6.00
6 J. James
5.88
1 J. Stolarczyk
5.80
8 H. Winks
5.64
3 W. Faes
5.33
23 J. Vestergaard
5.32
9 J. Ayew
4.95
33 L. Thomas
4.90
21 Ricardo Pereira
4.80
17 H. Choudhury
4.79
28 J. Monga
4.78
18 J. Carranza
4.67
24 B. Soumaré
4.63
14 B. De Cordova-Reid
4.43
20 P. Daka
4.27
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